


Rub a Dub Dub

by Penthesilea1623



Series: Tied, But Tenderly [2]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drinking, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Friendship, bathtime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 21:25:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3396887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penthesilea1623/pseuds/Penthesilea1623
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elspeth Trevelyan takes Dorian up on his offer to join him while he gets drunk after the meeting with his father in Redcliffe.  And after they've done so they decide it's the perfect time to share a bath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rub a Dub Dub

**Author's Note:**

  * For [delazeur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/delazeur/gifts).



> for delazeur on her birthday. Cross posted on my tumblr.

Elspeth Trevelyan wasn’t quite sure when she and Dorian had decided that having a bath would be the perfect solution to all their woes. Sometime after they’d finished the first bottle, she thought (Antivan brandy sent by the eminent Lord Thing-gummy to Josephine, who had been foolish enough to leave it out in the open in her office, and which they’d finished surprisingly quickly), but before they’d gone hunting for the bottles of Thedas she’d been collecting in her travels for the Inquisition. 

Dorian’s meeting with his father had left him more shaken than he would admit at first, and when he’d issued the invitation to get drunk accepting it had seemed the very least she could do for him.

She certainly knew all about being rejected by your parents for being what you were. 

Of course finding the bottles had taken a while. She knew she’d seen them somewhere during her explorations of the castle, but they’d had to wander all through the lower levels of Skyhold before she’d finally opened the right door, and that was after she’d had to drag a protesting Dorian out of the smaller cobweb-infested study near the kitchens. After some bickering back and forth about which bottle to select, they’d decided the only fair thing to do would be for each of them to choose one.

Dorian had insisted on something called ‘Antivan Sip-Sip’. “The description reminds me of you, Inquisitor.”

She’d taken it with a suspicious frown and read the label out loud. “ _Careful, this one’s mean._ ” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Go on.” He’d told her.

“ _Attic-raised mean. Popular among highborn who wish to seem dangerous, but more at home grasped by the neck by those who actually are._ ” She’d clutched the bottle to her chest. “Aww, Dorian…it’s perfect.” 

“As are you, my darling girl. Now show me what you’ve chosen.”

She handed him the bottle she’d selected. “While I, poor Circle mage that I am, lack both your magical expertise and your exposure to the finer things in life, I couldn’t help thinking this particular bottle was wonderfully apropos.”

“ _Alvarado’s Bathtub Boot Screech: if you can read this, you haven’t drunk it._ ” Dorian read. He stared at it for a moment and then looked up at her in admiration. “Brilliant. No wonder they put you in charge.”

After some debate it was decided they’d open the Sip-Sip first; if they could still read the label of on the Bathtub Screech when they were done, they’d drink that as well. 

And so here they were, naked, in one of the massive tubs in the Inquisition’s bathhouse, one of them at each end.

Elspeth’s hand glowed orange under the water and the steam began to rise around them again. “This is what I love most about being a mage.” She said, sinking back down into the tub. “Perpetually hot bath water.”

“And we say in Tevinter that the southern mages aren’t living up to the potential of their magic.” Dorian didn’t bother to open his eyes. “I can’t imagine why.”

The Sip-Sip had been awful, quite disgusting, but as they soaked, the water steaming around them, the taste had seemed to improve. 

Elspeth was lying back, her head resting against the side of the tub, the heat of the water making her sleepy. Her eyes flew open when Dorian shifted at his end of the tub and his foot slipped and nudged between her thighs.

“Hey! Watch that big toe.” She said closing her eyes again.

“A thousand apologies.” The water splashed as he shifted again. “Hold this for a moment.” 

When she looked, he was offering her the bottle. She took it from him and he leaned forward, reaching underwater and moving her legs between his so that his feet were on either side of her hips. 

“Better?” He asked.

She was staring at him appraisingly. She raised the bottle took a swallow, still staring, and shuddered as it went down. “Maker, you really are gorgeous.” Even unclothed and with his hair wet. Maybe because he was unclothed and his hair was wet. 

Dorian preened. “I am.” He agreed. “And I don’t share this perfection with just anyone you know.” 

She gave a small snort. “I’m not entirely sure I believe that.” Honestly it wasn’t fair. She probably looked as appealing as a wet cat right now.

Dorian laughed and it was such a rich winning sound she couldn’t help smiling in response. “What about you?” He asked. “I was a bit surprised when you suggested sharing a bath.”

She frowned. “I thought you suggested it.”

“Did I?” He waved his hand carelessly. “Details. Here we are in all our naked splendor, so you must have agreed. I didn’t think our illustrious leader, the Herald of Andraste, the Inquisitor, would share her bounty quite so freely.”

Elspeth looked down at herself and smirked. “I don’t think there’s any part of me you could honestly call bountiful, Dorian.” She was all angles, bony shoulders, bony hips; everything about her was too thin, too small, too sharp. It always had been. She’d once heard her mother refer to her as ‘unlovely’. _Bitch_ , she thought, annoyed that it rankled even now. Dear old mum. She’d probably been relieved when her daughter's magic had shown and she could ship her off to the Circle. She took another swallow taking a perverse pleasure this time in the way it burned going down her throat.

Dorian had been watching her and took the bottle from her hands. “What, you’d rather have pillowy, pendulous breasts that would bounce and undulate with every step? Your breast are lovely. Like a miniature on ivory.”

“Well the miniature part is certainly accurate.” She told him.

He ignored the statement. “In any case, I meant bounty as in your generosity in sharing your naked self, not the size of your bosom.”

“I’m not sharing my naked self, I’m sharing my bath.” She informed him. “I like having the company.” She took another swig from the bottle, and frowned at him. “This is weird isn’t it? Sharing a bath.” She sounded as if the thought had only just occurred to her.

“Is it? Seems quite sensible to me.”

“Other people would think it was weird.” She pointed out.

“Other people.” Said Dorian with a dismissive wave of his hand. “You and I needn’t concern ourselves with other people.” 

“Yes, well I haven’t quite gotten used to that idea. I’ve spent my whole life making sure I pleased other people. It was a matter of survival.“

“Poor little Circle mage.” And there was genuine sympathy in his voice. “I can’t imagine what your life was like.” A world where magic was a cause of shame. Where you tried to hide your talent so you wouldn’t draw attention, but had to show enough talent so that the templars knew you could defend yourself from demons, and the solution for both those problems was tranquility. _Barbarians_ , he thought to himself.

Elspeth leaned her head back against the edge of the tub and stared up at the ceiling. “My life was…constricted. Like a corset that doesn’t let you draw in a deep breath. You can breathe enough to sustain life, but Maker help you if you try and do more than that. I wandered around that Circle barely breathing for far too long, wanting to scream out my frustration but not even having breath enough for that.” She raised her head and took another swallow from the bottle.

Dorian reached out and took it from her, putting it down on the stool beside the tub. “What about after the Circles were dissolved?”

She sighed, her eyes far away. “After the Circles were dissolved I tried to go back to my family, only to be told they wanted nothing to do with me. I was an apostate, you see. A rebel mage. So fine, I thought, I’ll join the rebel mages. And I did. And the rebel mages decided my title would give weight to the mages’ voice and I was ordered to the Conclave. Still not free.” He voice trailed off.

“And then?” Dorian asked.

“And then the temple exploded and I fell out of the Fade with this thing.” She held up her left hand and let the anchor flare briefly, illuminating the room with a green glow. She and Dorian watched the light chase around the room.

“Pretty.” Dorian commented. “Though I’m not entirely sure green is your color.”

She gave him a smirk of a grin. He was right, it wasn’t. “Fuck you.” She told him, nudging his ribcage with her foot.

He caught it and lifted it out of the water, pressing a gentle kiss to her big toe. “Oh my darling girl, if only that were an option.” He said with a smile, before returning her foot to its place. “So there you were, a prisoner, with your pretty green mark, still presumably not breathing…” He prompted.

“And then I stopped the rift over Haven. And I could finally breathe.“ She let the mark flare again. “They need me now.” She said with satisfaction.

“So it’s better? In spite of all the pressure on you? Everyone counting on you to stop the evil villain and fix the hole in the sky?”

She seemed surprised he would even need to ask. “Of course it’s better. And it’ll stay that way, unless, of course, Vivienne gets her way and rebuilds the circles and puts all the bad little mages back where they belong.” 

Maker, what if Vivienne succeeded? What if after all this she ended up back in the Circle, right where she began?

Dorian watched the emotions chase across Elspeth’s face and knew what she was thinking. It wouldn’t happen. He would drag her back to Tevinter with him before he’d let that happen, whether she wanted to go or not. “She’s a fascinating and contradictory creature, isn’t she?” He said in a deliberately casual tone. “First Enchanter Vivienne. Madame La Fer. _We have to have the Circles my dear, for the safety of everyone_ , and yet she tied herself to a decrepit Orlesian nobleman just to get out of hers.”

“There’s probably more to it than that.“ Said Elspeth. She didn’t know why she felt the need to defend Vivienne. She didn’t even like her very much.

“Yes, I’m sure she wanted power, as well as freedom.” Dorian said wryly. He glanced at Elspeth. “Would you have done it if it got you out of your tower?”

She looked blank for a moment. “That assumes I’ve got looks enough or charm enough for someone to want to whisk me away from the Circle.” _Unlovely_. She could hear her mother say it with a heavy sigh, her voice full of regret.

Dorian wondered who it was who had convinced her so completely that her looks held no appeal. “Let’s assume you do. Would you have accepted the offer?”

She gave him a suspicious scowl. “No.” She finally said. “I don’t think it’s fair to use people like that.”

“You mean the Duke using Vivienne?”

“I was thinking Vivienne using the Duke, actually. She didn’t see him across the ballroom and fall in love. She saw his power, saw he was attracted to her and used it. If he’d been penniless or powerless she wouldn’t even have noticed him.” 

When she looked up, Dorian was giving her an indulgent smile.

“What?” She asked accusingly.

“You’re a romantic.” He sounded absolutely delighted.

“Fuck you.” The response was automatic.

“You are! You want music and candles and flowers and someone swearing undying love for you.”

“I do not! It’s just…” She leaned forwards suddenly. “Josephine’s been getting letters lately did you know? Inquiries. Marriage inquiries. For me. And these… _suitors_.” She spat the word out with the sort of disdain normally reserved for head lice and other parasites. “They send me ridiculous letters, flowery love letters, going on about my eyes and my smile and my alabaster bosom.” She gestured to her thin torso with its prominent collar bone, and the breasts that barely filled her own small hands, forget someone else’s. “This is not an alabaster bosom, Dorian. These men don’t have a fucking clue who I am, and what’s worse they don’t care. It’s not me they want it’s the fucking Inquisition. That’s not the way it should be.” She leaned back and slid down in the tub until the water was level with her chin and closed her eyes.

A romantic, Dorian thought again, though he was wise enough not to say it out loud this time. A prickly, resentful, dagger-tongued romantic. “So what does Elspeth want?” He asked.

She felt the beginning of tears stinging behind her lids. Fucking pathetic. “I want someone to know me, and like me anyway. I want someone to want me, Elspeth, not the noblewoman, or the mage, or the Herald, or the Inquisitor.” Her voice cracked on the last word and she sat up suddenly, grabbing the bottle from beside Dorian, splashing water over the side of the tub as she did so. She took a large swallow and choked as it went down, but the alcohol helped her regain control of her emotions. “I want someone to tell me I have nice tits and mean it.” She said when she could breathe again.

“I’ve done all those things.” Dorian pointed out with a teasing smile.

She surprised him by grinning back. “I want someone to tell me I have nice tits because they want to fuck me.” It was a different smile than her usual smirk, an almost girlish smile. 

He wondered again how old she was. Late twenties he’d thought the first time he’d seen her in the chantry in Redcliffe, and sometimes her eyes had a hardness that made her seem older than that, but once in a blue moon she gave a smile like this one, unguarded, open, one that let her happiness show, one that softened her somehow and when she did, it wouldn’t have surprised him to learn she was barely out of her teens.

“Ah well. I’m afraid I can’t help you with that.” He admitted.

She sighed. “I know. And most of the time I don’t even think about it. I’d given up on the idea of it years ago, but some days it worms its way back in and nags at my brain until I could scream.” She picked up the bottle and took a large swallow and shuddered as it went down.

The scowl was back on her face, Dorian noticed.

“Why don’t you?” He asked.

She looked puzzled. “Why don’t I what?”

“Scream. What’s stopping you?”

She snorted. “Because it’s weird? It’s a weird thing to do.”

“So is getting starkers and taking a bath with a Tevinter mage who prefers men, but that didn’t stop you.” He pointed out. “Just scream.”

“You’re nuts.”

“Go on.” He coaxed. “I’ll tell you what: I’ll scream with you.”

 

Cassandra crossed the courtyard rotating her shoulders to try and ease the ache. The meeting with Cullen to discuss the possible whereabouts of the missing Seekers had lasted longer than either of them had intended.

“Seeker. I know some exercises to help with that.” Said a deep voice beside her and she jumped at the sound.

Iron Bull grinned down at her. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

How someone the size of the Qunari was able to move so quietly was something she would never understand. “You didn’t.” She lied. “You’re up late this evening.”

“I was spending some time with the new kitchen maid.” He told her. “She’s a feisty one. A redhead…”

Cassandra interrupted him. “I don’t wish to know the details.” She told him but he had stopped talking on his own and was frowning in the direction of the bathhouse. She glanced over and then back at him. “What is it?” And then she heard it. A woman screaming. And then a man’s scream joining hers. There was a pause and then the woman screamed again, louder this time. “Is that…” Cassandra’s hand was on her sword and she was running towards the bathhouse even as she finished the sentence. “…the Inquisitor!” 

Bull was running beside her and the two of them burst through the door.

And screeched to a halt at the sight that met them.

The Inquisitor, her cheeks rosy from the heat of the bath, her silvery blonde hair in damp curls framing her face, stark naked, her forehead pressed against Dorian’s, a Dorian, who was equally naked, the two of the screaming like lunatics, so loudly they hadn’t even noticed that they were no longer alone. Their screams died away as they ran out of breath and they both began laughing.

“Are you insane?” Cassandra screeched.

Both heads whirled to face her. There was a moment’s silence and then they looked back at each other and burst out laughing again, and this time they seemed unable to stop. They clutched each other, looked at Cassandra again. and laughed even harder. Elspeth had tears running down her face.

Cassandra scowled at both of them. “I am assuming that neither of you is in imminent danger, then.” 

Neither of them could speak, and Dorian seemed to actually be having trouble breathing.

“I am going to bed.” Cassandra announced and turned and stalked out of the room. 

Bull was staring at the bathtub, his mouth curved into a half smile.

And then Elspeth realized he was looking at her. At her chest to be precise. She fought the urge to cross her arms to cover it. “Was there something you needed, Bull?” She asked, trying to scowl at him. It was surprisingly difficult to pull off while naked and wet.

He looked up and there was something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. 

“Nothing that can’t wait ‘til later, Boss.” He made no move to leave.

No, that was ridiculous. She must be imagining it.

She looked at Dorian for help and he just lay back in his corner of the tub with a smirk of a smile on his face. _Thanks a bunch, Dorian_ , she thought. She turned back to Bull and raised her eyebrows expectantly. When he didn’t pick up on her hint, her nostrils flared and she stared back at him defiantly, making a small ‘shoo’ gesture with her hand. “Close the door on your way out, would you?” 

His eyes traveled slowly from her face to her chest and back to her face again. “Sure, Boss.” He turned and walked to the door and paused. “One thing, Boss?” 

“What?” She asked, her voice wary.

He looked back over his shoulder at her. “Nice tits.” He said, and grinned appreciatively, and there was no mistaking the look this time. 

Her mouth dropped open in astonishment and then slowly curved into what could only be described as a very pleased smile. She leaned back in the tub, resting her arms on the sides. “Thanks, Bull.” She said in a throaty voice that she decided immediately to blame on the Sip-Sip.

“Anytime, Boss.” He walked out and closed the door behind him and smiled at the burst of laughter that came from behind it as he walked away.

**Author's Note:**

> Tied but Tenderly pictures references and other Dragon Age: Inquisition related things can be found on my tumblr
> 
>  
> 
> [Tied, but Tenderly references and inspiration](http://penthesilea1623.tumblr.com/search/tied+but+tenderly)


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